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There’s a tense silence as she straps a holster on to her thigh, leg lifted with a heeled combat boot pressed against a chair to give her a better angle. She pulls the belt and secures the buckle and flexes her leg to make sure it fits securely.
Ada grabs her custom Blacktail, Highest Bidder, from it’s secure container. Running her thumb across the engravings of the handgun, she wonders if she should get it redone. She has loyalties now — or, well, a loyalty — that no amount of money could break. She’ll have to wait until after this assignment though.
Her tongue clicks against her teeth in self admonishment. Maybe she was right. It’s always ‘after’ and never ‘before’. She makes an unspoken promise that this is the last time. No use it speaking it, she will show what she means when she comes back.
Ada’s leather gloves creak as she wraps her fingers around the grip molded to her hand and pulls back the slide, checking the chamber.
Click.
Empty. Satisfied she lets it go and grabs an already loaded magazine from the box, sliding it into the pistol and pulls back on the slide again to chamber a round.
Click. Click. Click.
She feels eyes boring into her back and she fights the urge to turn around. The faster this is done, the faster she returns. The faster she can prove that there are other things that matter other than client phone calls at dinner or the briefings on her laptop at night in bed.
She double checks the safety then slides Highest Bidder securely into the holster with a satisfying snap and she lets her leg drop down. Ada turns to face the music, so to speak, and is surprised when the presence in the doorway is absent. She slams the case harder than she means to and strides out of the custom armory built within the safe house.
The armory connects to her bedroom loft; Something she thought she wouldn’t mind but now that there are two people living here she finds it leaves a rather poor taste. Home has not been a word in her vocabulary for a long time. But with her fiancé here, it feels closer to home than any other place has ever felt since she was a child. Ada walks to the bed and makes it, pulling the sheets tight to their corners and folding the blanket over. She wishes she could make the bed smaller, so it wouldn’t feel so lonely when Ada wasn’t there.
Satisfied, she walks to the spiral staircase and descends. The sound of a zipper being pulled brings her attention to the woman at the front door, where the rest of her equipment is already packed and ready to go.
“There’s quite a lot here for a short trip, Ada.” Her voice is tight. Like she’s holding in her anger. She doesn’t want to fight before Ada leaves, and neither does Ada.
“Never pays to be unprepared, and I like being paid.” She says with a professional aloofness that is so easy to fall into.
Green-blue eyes — those features, at least, stayed the same — flick over to her and narrow. “Don’t do that.”
Ada tilts her head, arms crossing over her chest. “Don’t do what, Jill?”
A heavy, frustrated sigh escapes Jill’s lips.
“Talk to me like I’m one of your damn clients. They take up enough of our life.”
Ada bites the inside of her lip. She drops her arms and steps closer, features softening. She takes Jill’s hand — still so pale, even her nail beds are a stark white — and brings it to her mouth, kissing the ring on her finger as an apology.
She sees some of the tension wash away from her fiancé, but Jill is still watching her with a downcast gaze.
“Four days?”
“If we’re lucky, I can make it three.”
That gets Jill to smile and Ada can’t help but mirror it. She brushes pale blonde hair from Jill’s face to tuck it behind her ear. At least the roots are coming back brown. Ada has never minded however the woman she loves looks, but she knows it haunts Jill. A reminder of the loss of self. Made into a machine. Assassin. Executioner. Spy.
A prisoner in her own body. A ghost in a clocktower watching the gears move and helpless to stop them.
Ada meets Jill’s eyes as her thumb brushes along her cheekbone. The words are hard, knowing that disappointment still sits behind that look of adoration.
“If anything happens-”
“I know, Ada. We’ve gone over it. I can handle myself anyways, I’m not useless.”
“Well, I was more worried about them anyways.” Jill laughs and Ada smirks, pulling her hand away. The surprise is evident on her face when Jill tugs on her shirt to pull her close and presses her lips firmly against Ada’s. An involuntary sigh escapes as she presses into the kiss, arms wrapping around Jill.
They pull away at the same time and Ada can’t help but laugh when she looks at Jill. A deep, uneven maroon stain coats Jill’s lips.
“That’s a good color on you.”
Jill’s brows furrow and wipes her lip with a finger, looking at the streak that rubs off onto her skin. She looks back up at Ada with a grin. “I know where it’ll look better.”
Ada can’t help the look of keen interest on her face. “Oh?”
“I’ll show you when you’re back.” Jill shrugs, walking towards the door.
“Well, I’ll guess I’ll try extra hard to make it three days then.” Ada says, grabbing the handle of her suitcase.
Jill chuckles. “You do that.”
Ada gives her one more peck on the lips and grabs her metal briefcase. Jill opens the door for her and waves her off.
“Love you.” Jill says first. She always says it first.
Ada blows her a kiss from the hallway as the elevator rings. “Love you.”
Ada feels like there should be some satisfaction, but all she feels is empty. Hollow. And anger is what fills the void. It comes like a tidal wave as she stares down at a man strapped to the chair in front of her. He’s shaking and trembling. Pale skin, dull grey eyes wide and staring up at her. Ada glares down at him behind her mask and she hopes it stokes a primal fear in his gut.
The shaking stops and the man goes limp and Ada pulls the knife out of his neck. She wipes it clean on the patch on his shoulder.
B.S.A.A.
She stretches out her right hand, moving her fingers and looks at them. Her knuckles ache, bruising starting to form on the tips of them and bloodied. Ada is certain she’s fractured a bone. But that’s fine. Pain is something she can deal with. It can be mitigated, treated, healed.
It helps to keep the guilt away.
Ada takes the radio off the BSAA agent and connects her ear piece to it, then slips it beneath her coat, walking toward the door of the ruined shack she used as a makeshift interrogation room. Call signs, check ins, reports.
“Rook Two, checking in.”
“Rook Three, all clear.”
“Rook Five, sweep’s done.”
Radio check ins at 15 minute intervals. They report in through the static and the number goes up to seven. Four never reports in, so that’s probably who she ended up ambushing. They’ll find the bodies sans the one behind her and they’ll figure it’s some of the infected still roaming around. For now.
The newly poached radio crackles again.
“This is Bishop. Rook Four failed to check in, need some eyes over there.”
“Rook Two, copy. On our way.”
She lets out a rueful laugh. Chess pieces? Can’t wait to find the King.
Ada pulls the door open and walks out. Pulling out her binoculars she scans the village, the castle, and the factory. She puts together all the pieces of information the soldier had told her.
The Castle and the factory are still too dangerous and the BSAA are generally avoiding the area. The remnants of the megamycete are too but the trove of information and samples there are too much to resist for them.
The headquarters, with the moniker Bishop, is setup somewhere at the base of the mountain where the stronghold, and that’s where she’ll find who she’s looking for. Slipping her leather glove back on her battered hand, she takes a deep breath, pushing the exhaustion that is starting to seep into her bones away. In swift motion she unclips the grapple launcher on her lower back and fires it at a the roof of a nearby two-story house. It drags her up into the air and she kicks her feet up to land onto of the building. Her legs tremble under the sudden pressure and she stumbles, having to catch herself on the chimney close-by.
A hiss escapes her mouth and she pushes herself up, shaking her head, willing her body to cooperate and ignore the fatigue. Once she steadies herself, its another leap off the roof as she fires the hook again and drags her self across the top of the village.
It’s been nearly two months.
Fifty-one days since Jill went missing.
Fifty-one days of running herself ragged to find who had taken her and where she was taken to.
Each passing day was one where she’d rather take a bullet than have the yawning maw in her chest that ate at her from the inside.
It took forty-nine days to track her to Romania. Two days to find the village to learn she had missed all the excitement that had happened a week earlier.
Today is day fifty-two.
Not another day.
A few more zips has her at the northern edge of the village with a good view over the forest to the base of the ruined stronghold. Withered, black tendrils that had burst from the center of the keep are draped across the stoneworks of the walls and houses at the base of rock. She hears footsteps and presses flat to the roof. Two BSAA agents round the corner ahead toward her, moving in the direction she came from. Then another two, and then another.
Once they pass, Ada is up again. When the sound of footsteps fade away she leaps down, landing on the snow-covered ground and slips into the dead woods ahead. Even though the sun is still overhead, barely any of the light shows through the dense lattice of branches above. It makes an uneasy feeling crawl up her spine. She forges ahead through snow that’s half way up her leg for two kilometers before she spots the other end of the forest that she’s all too grateful to see. A persistent howling has been getting closer but she hasn’t been able to make out anything in the shadows. She quickly heads for the clearing, and appreciates the sunlight overhead again as she crouches beside a toppled tree to give her some cover. Scanning the base of the cliff, she can see signs of the BSAA throughout the ruined village. Crates, tents, ammo boxes. Makeshift lab and landing area for the helicopters, along with a motorpool on the opposite side of the base. There’s also a mass grave on the outskirts and she can smell the fire from here.
As Ada gets up, the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge. She turns as a matted, bestial hand with razor sharp claws narrowly strikes just where her head had been. It connects with the beak of her mask and the strap snaps and it’s sent flying away, the hand digging into the dead bark. The chill air bites at her exposed skin.
Pulling the knife from her belt she quickly closes the distance to the lycan and stabs it at an angle through the lower jaw. It seizes then drops and crimson seeps into the snow. Another roar catches her attention to the left and she sees another one barreling down towards her on all fours. Feral, yellow eyes. A beast in the shape of a man growling and frothing at the mouth.
She’s ready this time as the beast launches itself haphazardly towards her. A sidestep and shove breaks the creature’s balance and she’s on top of it in an instant, riding on its back as it falls. She flips her knife into a reverse grip and brings her arm down to stab it in the neck but the beast recovers faster than she expects and throws her off.
Tucking into a roll to ease her momentum, she stands up to facedown the lycan who’s already standing again. Ada snaps the knife back up and prepares for it to launch itself at her again. The beast bellows out a roar into the sky before dropping down on all limbs and starts to charge.
The confusion on its face, and hers, is evident as its momentum seems to abruptly stop as if yanked back by a leash. It starts to yowl as its lifted in the air and the sickening sound of flesh and skin being torn apart makes her flinch as the lycan is shredded in half in a shower of blood and gore. The two halves drop limply in the snow and a deep chill crawls up Ada’s spine.
She looks up to see a man dressed in BSAA fatigues standing over the carnage staring down at his work. He’s not wearing a mask so Ada can see the way his head is unnaturally hairless. He has the same white skin as the other soldiers she’s met here with deep cracks running like vein across his body. Wielding none of the equipment as the other operatives she’s seen, Ada can take a guess on what the man in front of her is. His eyes snap up to her as if noticing her for the first time. Unlike the others, his eyes are deep sickly yellow and the pupils shake as if he can’t keep focus.
Fuck.
“Sorry big boy, I’m taken. And very late.”
The B.O.W. is a blur of muscle as it closes the distance to Ada, following through with a savage punch the gusts the wind past her face as she bends back to dodge. Taking the opening, Ada latches onto his arm and kicks her legs up, twisting her hips to swing herself up and over him. She takes the inertia as she lands to twist the man’s arm as leverage to throw him over onto the ground.
Ada leaps back and pulls out the grenade on her belt. She pulls the pin and throws it onto the snow beside him before he can recover, and turns with her grapple already in hand fires it at the nearest house that pulls her away. Landing on the roof she looks back just in time to see the grenade detonate as the the man begins to move again, eating the full force of it.
The bioweapon is sent flying back and lands in the snow with a thud. Smoke rises from the small crater in the blackened snow and the man several feet away. Ada stares at the spot where her attacker landed, looking for movement. Just as she’s about to look away, to her dread, he begins to stand up again. His uniform is tattered with embers still smoking along edges of its thread. Metallic shrapnel covers is upper torso and face and blood seeps from the wounds.
There’s barely another moment before he’s a blur once again, tracking through the snow to where Ada is at. She takes off in sprint, leaping off the roof and grappling to a farther house as the face of the one she’s on collapses inward with a loud crash.
The radio is starting to fill with a dozen voices calling out the explosion and the crash and she pulls out the earpiece to leave it hanging at her chest. Following her instinct, she leaps to the neighboring house right before the one she’s starts to collapse with another loud impact. Ada takes off in a sprint across the rooftops as she hears her pursuer below, crashing through each house in an attempt to bring her down.
Her mind races through a dozen different plans to try and escape or disable the bioweapon on her tail and only finds herself coming short. Running out of rooftops she pivots on the last one and makes to fire a hookline across the street. Before she can pull the trigger, something catches her ankle and she’s yanked backwards causing her to lose her grip on the gun and it tumbles out of her hand. She falls back as the roof and the walls of the building crumble on top of her.
Ada drops through all two floors of the house and lands on her back with a loud crack on hardwood floor and her vision flashes bright with white hot pain. Dust and bits of tile and wood are the last remnants to fall and she breathes in a lungful of it that forces her to cough. It triggers a searing agony in her right side that makes her yell, and instinctively presses against it with a hand. The first thing she feels is jagged edges of a piece of wood impaling her straight through in her lower right abdomen. With a pained groan, she forces herself up, fighting through the burning scream of her body. She looks down at the wood, stained with crimson that drips down onto her leg. Its a piece of thin debris piercing through her left side which seems to have missed the major organs.
With hiss and a yell she falls forward onto her hands and pushes herself up to stand. Her knees buckle once, then twice. On the third attempt she’s able to keep them up.
The sound of shifting debris turns her attention behind her. Buried beneath what looks like half the roof and the upper floor, the bioweapon chasing her is struggling weakly to free himself. A wooden cross beam has run him through the chest.
A flashing series of lights on his neck pulls her attention to some kind of collar that the man is wearing that she hadn’t noticed before. The series of lights are flashing yellow and then change to red. Soon enough the lights go out and the man slumps, unmoving in the rubble.
Ada watches the body to make sure he’s dead before cautiously moving closer, and limps as she makes her way to the pile of debris. With her right hand she pulls Highest Bidder from its holster and aims it shakily at the B.O.W as she approaches. With her left hand she grabs him by the head, pistol held close to her chest and aimed down at him, and moves it to the side to get a better look at the collar. She sees where in the back three pins press into the spinal cord of his neck and she drops the head with a curse.
It looks enough like a control device and the grip on her weapon tights, the metal edges of the grip biting into her hand. Ada tries very hard not to think about whether or not Jill has one around hers already and all but collapses onto her knees as the last bits of adrenaline fade.
Her breathing is labored and every muscle in her body feels like its on fire. The pain paints stars across her vision she’s forced to constantly blink away. Ada pulls the knife out of its sheathe and rips a long piece of leather from her trench coat. Then she brings the blade and faces the cutting edge away from her and bites down on the metal.
Both hands grip the wood jutting out from her torso and she squeezes her eyes closed. She takes in a deep breath. Then another. And another. With a fourth inhale she uses all the strength she has left to pull the wood. Her nerves scream in fiery agony as it slides through and her muffled yell still rings throughout the ruin. Once it clears she drops it to the ground and grabs the makeshift leather tourniquet and dresses it over the wound and ties it off.
Ada lets her shoulders drop and she leans forward, breathing heavily. Her mouth goes slack and the knife clatters on the ground. She keeps falling forward until she rests her head against the wooden floor and stays there as the world goes black.
( Ada’s heels click against the concrete floor as she marches through the halls of the BSAA hospital in Cyprus. As she approaches the hospital room, it opens and a broad-shouldered man steps out with a tired look on his face. Their eyes meet and Ada’s jaw tenses with her fists clenched at her sides.
The surprise on Chris Redfield’s face is evident. He doesn’t have a chance to ask what she’s doing here, as Ada just shoves past him into the room and slams the door behind her, locking it. She waits to see if Chris tries anything and all she hears is a loud sigh and receding footsteps.
Ada takes a deep breath and walks around the hospital curtains to find Jill on the bed. She’s so pale now and the shock of it steals the breath from her lungs. Almost-white blonde hair is draped over her shoulders where there should be brown. Eyes that always reminds her of the aurora flick up at her and there’s an anxious part of her that wonders if memory loss was part of her condition.
She spots the surprise Jill’s features and the upward tug on her lips as she sits up and relief washes through Ada.
“Ada? What are you-”
“You’re not actually asking me why I’m here are you?” Ada says in annoyed tone, crossing her arms together.
“It’s been so long I just assumed…”
Ada scoffs and tries to bury the hurt she feels with indignant anger. “Just because my work goes to the highest bidder doesn’t mean my feelings for you change easily.”
“That’s not what I meant, Ada.”
She bites back a retort and tears her gaze away from Jill. She spots the chair by the bed and walks over to sit on it, leaning back with her arms still crossed.
“I’m sorry.” Jill says in a hoarse voice. It’s strained and scratchy and Ada can tell it takes effort to speak. She pulls the chair closer, grabbing the cup of water on the side table and adjusts the straw.
“Drink.” She says, lifting it to Jill’s lips. Jill goes to grab the cup from Ada and she just shakes her head, pushing the hands away.
“I’ve got it, just drink.” Ada says gently, forcing the edge out of her tone. “Please.”
Jill’s mouth wrap around the straw and she starts to drink. Ada’s gaze wanders down as she holds the cup for Jill. Scratches, bruises, and scars she doesn’t recognize cover her body. There’s series of holes in the skin on the center of her chest in the shape of an oval. She’s bandaged in several places and where her skin shows it almost blends in. The rest of her is covered in sensors connected to several monitors.
Movement brings Ada’s eyes back up to Jill and she puts the cup aside, leaning forward. Jill can’t hold the gaze and looks away but Ada sees the way her hand twitches slightly at her side like she wants to take her hand.
She sighs and takes the hand, lacing their fingers together and watches how the tension starts to bleed from Jill’s shoulders. Ada moves the chair closer until her knees touch the bed frame, taking Jill’s hand with both of hers.
“It’s hard to believe you’re here right now.” Ada says, squeezing Jill’s hand. “I shouldn’t be taking it out on you.” Jill looks back at her and smiles.
“I’m really happy to see you.”
Ada laughs because if she doesn’t she’ll cry and that’s not vulnerability this sterile room deserves to see.
“I could say the same to you.” Ada looks down at their hands, rubbing her thumb across the back of Jill’s. “If I knew you were alive I could’ve-”
“But you didn’t. So don’t give me that. I don’t need it, and you don’t deserve it.”
Ada purses her lips and nods reluctantly. A finger pushes her jaw upwards until their eyes meet, drawing Ada closer to Jill. She stands to lean over the bed and presses her lips to the Jill’s. It’s a familiar warmth that feels like it’s filling her body. A familiar warmth that is all the more intense for every day of the past three years she has had without it. It last for several long moments before Ada pulls away, smiling.
“And I really missed that.” Jill says with a strained laugh.
“You spent three years missing my lips?” Ada says with mock indignation that makes Jill laugh again.
“Okay, I wouldn’t put it like that but yes. Just you in general.” Jill says with an affection that catches Ada off-guard.
“You can tell me more when you get out of here then. Do you know how much longer they’ll keep you?”
Jill just shrugs, holding up her arms that are covered in sensors. “I hope you’re not in a rush.”
“I’m not. I just know you’ll feel better at home.” Ada says with a shrug and sits down in the chair again.
“Can’t wait.” Jill says with a tired smile. “How long are you planning to stay?”
Ada leans back in her chair and stretches out her legs. “Until you kick me out.”
“Well, this bed fits two.” Jill says as she shuffles over to the far side as an invitation. “Pretty comfortable if you don’t mind the bright lights, dozens of cables, and the smell.”
“You’re really selling this.”
“Well I’m pretty sure you came from the airport straight here so I think you’ll take it anyway.”
That gets Ada to roll her eyes and she gets up, taking off her coat and draping it across the chair. “Fine.” She says, kicking off her boots. “But you better wake me up if someone comes in.”
Jill barks out another laugh. “Deal.” )
When Ada comes to again she’s greeted with pain as she leans to the wrong side and she bites her cheek to keep herself from yelling out, doubling over. She takes a deep, labored breath hands fisting the dirt and debris on the ground.
“Get up. Get up get up.” Ada speaks aloud to herself through gritted teeth. “She needs you. So for once in your life show up for her.”
Slowly, she sits up and tries to rub the dirt and dust from her eyes as she looks up at the sky. The deep yellow-orange hues of dusk paint the clouds above as the sun starts to dip below the horizon. Ada chastises herself for being out for so long and forces herself up, grabbing the knife she had dropped and slipping it back into it’s sheathe.
She’s lightheaded and has to catch herself for balance on the ruins of a wall. If she’s lucky it’s just a concussion. A splitting headache makes it hard to string thoughts together but she tries to remain focused.
The sounds of a helicopter over head gets her to move under some cover, the bright highbeams of its light washing over the remains of the house she’s in as it flies over. Ada waits until it sounds far enough away to head out of the ruin and onto the path connecting the houses to the stronghold.
No patrols around and the helicopter didn’t really seem to be searching. It strikes her as odd until she trips over the body of a dead agent she doesn’t see and barely has time to right herself. Ada turns to look down at the body that is completely eviscerated and a cursory glance of the surrounding area gives her the answer to the question forming in her mind.
Outside of the houses that were demolished by her pursuer, it looked like a small horde of lycans had come to investigate the commotion and the scent of fresh blood. At the same time it seems two or three patrols had formed up here and a battle ensued. Bodies litter the road with a thin layer of fresh snow on them. Mostly the lycans, but there’s enough uniforms, vests, and masks that she can make out to know the BSAA did not come out unscathed.
Gunfire and the bellow of a loud roar pierces the morbid silence in the direction of the center of town. Ada knows she needs to move quickly and crouches by the nearest corpse that looks mostly intact. She taps through the multitude of pockets and eventually finds what she’s looking for — a painkiller and adrenaline autoinjector. Ada gives it a quick glance to make sure it’s still usable and pulls off the cap. With a swift motion she stabs the needle into her thigh and the piercing pain is quickly dulled out by the cocktail flooding her system. She tosses the injector off to the side once it’s empty.
With a deep, shaky breath she stands and finds the pain is muddled enough that she doesn’t need to hunch over. The fog in her head alleviates, if only slightly, and Ada figures that’s about as good as it’s going to get.
She then heads down the road toward the source of the sound she had heard. As she gets closer, Ada can hear the signs of struggle getting louder. A deep roar that shakes the ground and makes her ears ring comes from the other side of the building she’s behind. Crouching at the corner she peaks around it and finds herself staring at the large mass of a creature covered in bloodied and matted fur.
The massive lycan was around three meters tall, dwarfing the small single story houses around. It’s movements are labored and it’s breathing is heavy. Large hands with claws the length of her forearm are swiping at something in front it and is clearly unable to land a hit.
Ada runs low to a turned over cart by the side of the road to get a better angle. From here she sees the back of the beast struggling against something she can’t see. There’s a loud crunch and the lycan topples over backwards, dead before it hits the ground and sends shockwaves through the earth.
It takes her a second, but as the soldier circles the body the telltale platinum blonde hair makes the blood freeze in her veins.
Jill is wearing the same full black fatigues the other B.O.W. had and she can see the bright, solid green lights of her collar. With cold, almost mechanical, movements Jill pulls the knife embedded through the lycan’s eye.
Ada looks at the surrounding area, trying to come up with some way to get the device off of Jill to distract herself from the numbing guilt and sorrow eating at her.. The base camp is in ruins and there are lycans and BSAA agents littering the ground. Further off she sees the makeshift motorpool with toppled jeeps and humvees. If she could find a bolt cutter or something similar in one of those garages, then that’s a good chance to cut the collar off. Otherwise she’s not sure how-
The crash of an arm breaking through the cart she’s behind is her only warning as the forearm wraps across her throat and pins her against the wood. Ada makes a choking noise as it cuts off circulation, hands trying to pry the arm away from it. It feels like she’s trying to bend titanium with how rigid the hold on her neck it even as tries as hard as she can. Giving up on that plan, she digs her heels into the soft dirt beneath her and pushes back against the cart with all her strength.
The wooden remnants start to topple over onto the other side. Ada continues to lean back into it, letting it lift her up. Predictably, the arm has to retreat to stop the cart from falling on her attacker and the wagon starts to lift. The person now beneath her uses their strength to throw it over their head to fall onto the other side. Ada takes the chance slide off as she’s in the air and lands on her feet, whipping around with her handgun drawn.
Her finger tenses on the trigger but she can’t pull it. Jill glares at her, facing the barrel of her gun head on. The moment of hesitation is all she needs and she’s able to grab the handgun and twist it out of Ada’s hands and turns it on her and immediately fires.
As soon as the gun is out of her hands, Ada drops low to throw off her aim and throws herself at Jill’s midsection. An elbow connects with her back and she pushes through the pain to try and wrestle Jill to the ground. They tumble into the mud with and Ada lands with her knees on Jill’s shoulders to try and pin her down. She pulls out her knife and tries to wedge it between the collar and Jill’s neck. Ada pulls and Jill thrashes out, letting out a savage yell of pain and anger.
Jill throws a punch just in the right spot, the bandaged wound in her abdomen, and Ada’s vision is a flash of white as debilitating pain makes her crumple and lose the grip on her knife. Jill throws her off and Ada drops onto her back trying to push through the agony that makes her hands and feet go numb. She has to roll to avoid a boot the slams into the mud where her head just was and scrambles to her feet.
Ada knows she needs to get to the tented garages quickly before Jill completely exhausts her. Just as Jill recovers and lunges at Ada, she kicks up mud into her face that makes her stumble. Ada manages to dodge to the side and makes a run for it, even as she feels blood beginning to soak her right side again. As she turns the corner, she pulls the pin and drops a flashbang onto the ground. Several seconds later and a loud bang and bright light is followed by a pained cry from Jill.
That buys a few seconds at most and Ada bursts through the side door of the nearest garage. Wasting no time, she desperately upends toolboxes and searches the crates to find something that could cut through the collar. In one she finally finds a pair of bolt-cutters and grabs it before heading back outside. As she exits, she’s barely able to bring up the cutters in time to block a kick aimed straight for chest. The force of it still sends her back, sliding across the snow.
She scrambles to get up grabbing the bolt cutters again and has to pivot to deflect another strike. Ada lets Jill’s arm sail past her and she plants her leg forward to knock her off balance. Jill stumbles forward and catches herself and spins to throw a hook kick. Ada ducks low and forward and gets under her guard. She wraps her arms around Jill’s thigh and uses the momentum to drag them both to the ground a second time. Jill tries to roll onto her back but Ada keeps her pinned on her chest with all she can muster. She moves to climb on top and brings the bolt cutters up to the collar as Jill writhes and struggles beneath her.
With difficulty, Ada is able to get the blades to clamp on the collar to the left of the pins digging into Jill’s spine, making sure the pointed edge isn’t pointed directly at her neck. She squeezes as hard as she can and she can hear the piercing screech of metal on metal. Eventually the collar snaps, the cutters slicing clean through. The tool is tossed to the side as Ada grips the the device with both hands and tries to pry it apart from Jill’s neck.
The woman beneath her yells and thrashes with a renewed desperation that only stops as Ada finally tears it free from Jill’s spine and throws it as far as she can. Below her, Jill is now eerily still and Ada scrambles to get off of her, turning her over onto her back. She checks the pulse and lets out a loud sigh of relief as she feels the signs of a beating heart.
It takes more energy than Ada’s body has remaining to drag Jill out of the snow into a nearby garage and, as soon as her fiancé is out of the elements, Ada stumbles forward and slumps against the wall. Even lifting her arms feels like it takes an almost impossible amount of effort and she all but has to drag her hands to her lower torso. Looking down she can see the blood from her wound pooling towards the ground already, her right side almost entirely soaked.
For the first time since she’s been here, she realizes she’s freezing and her body is trembling. Ada’s hands drop to her side as the last of her strength ebbs away and her consciousness fades quickly after, her body crumpling onto its side.
***
Ada doesn’t dream. In the depths of unconsciousness all that surrounds her is pitch black. Occasionally she can hear something but she’s unable to make the effort to try and focus and lets herself fall back into darkness.
The first lucid thought she has is how much the pounding headache feels like her head is in a vice. When she opens her eyes, she doesn’t know what to expect, but the familiar curtains draping the window that lets thin strands of light break through surprise her. With pained effort Ada moves to sit up in the bed and looks around the room. She recognizes it as the bedroom of the safe house they currently called home and a hundred questions bubble up in her mind.
Namely, where is Jill?
She can hear muffled voice coming from below the loft in the dining area and she tries to swing her legs off the bed. They feel heavy and getting them to move feels like dragging them through tar with how much effort it takes. The pain in her side flares and it makes her hiss through her teeth. Ada feels herself almost black out and has to brace her hands against the nightstand. It wobbles and the glass of water on it spills over and shatters on the floor.
The screech of two chairs being pulled out sound from below and Ada can her footsteps on the stair case.
“Ada?” Jill’s voice comes and Ada is almost overwhelmed with the relief that comes from hearing her voice.
“That’s my name.” Her voice is scratchy and she struggles to say it at a loud enough volume.
She tries to stand but her legs can’t hold her weight and she just sits back on the bed, noticing she’s wearing shorts and one of Jill’s oversized shirts. Her hands are covered in bandages. Her waist is bandaged as well, covering packed in gauze to help seal the wound. Watching Jill rush up the stairs, Ada can’t help the smile on her face. Jill throws her arms around her and Ada tries not to fall over. The pain in her side flares and she tries not to wince.
Ada tries to return the affection, hands weakly grabbing onto her shirt. “You’re okay?” She manages to croak out.
Jill lets out a relieved laugh. “You’re out for a week and your first question is if I’m okay?”
A week? Before Ada can retort she sees a lean Japanese woman, wearing a simple white turtleneck and black jeans, clear the top steps of the stairs and walk towards them with an annoyed look on her face.
“She needs rest, Jill.” She says in a reprimanding tone and Jill pulls away to give her some room, but doesn’t let go of Ada’s hand. Her gaze meet Ada’s and it takes a moment for her to recognize who it is.
“Christine?”
“Well it’s a good sign you remember my name.” She says, shaking her head. “I expect this from Valentine, but really didn’t expect this kind of recklessness from you Ms. Wong.” Christine chastises, heading over to the monitor on the other side of the bed to check the readout.
“I like to keep things interesting.” Ada deadpans, laying back down on the bed as the exhaustion starts to catch up to her. Christine just lets out a sigh.
Jill sits on the chair beside the bed and moves it closer. “How are you feeling?”
“It’s not the worse I’ve gotten myself into.” Ada squeezes Jill’s hand, taking comfort in the warmth. “Remind me not to try and get into fist fight with you next time.” She says with a dry laugh. She stops when she sees Jill’s eyes downcast and how her face falls.
“Bad joke. It wasn’t your fault, Jill. Don’t do that to yourself.” Ada tone is gentle and she rubs her thumb across the back of Jill’s hand. “Also can you tell me why the woman who tried to kill you-”
“Indirectly.” Christine corrects.
“-indirectly tried to kill you is here?”
Jill shrugs. “I loaned her from Chris’s team since she was the closest one here with medical experience and Chris is off with Hound Wolf squad tracking down whoever is responsible for that mess in Romania. Not that Chris knows I’m currently borrowing her.”
“My specialty is virology but between Jill and Chris I feel like more of a medic than anything else.” Christine chimes in.
“Isn’t being here going to cause trouble?” Ada asks, looking between Jill and Christine who now stands behind her fiancé.
Christine laughs. “I can handle it. I’m much more worried about angering Jill.” She folds her arms across her chest and leans against the wall. “She also promised to get me samples from Romania if I stitched you up. Redfield continues to keep my hands shackled when it comes to any virus or bioweapon research.”
“Pretty sure he has a good reason for that.” Jill mutters.
Christine kicks at the leg of Jill’s chair and levels her a glare. “I left that life behind in Raccoon City. Both you and Chris made sure of that when you ‘recruited’ me.”
Jill just shakes her head, not responding to Christine. She leans down to press a kiss to Ada’s knuckle. “You should get some more sleep.”
“I’m fine. Pretty tired of unconsciousness.” Ada says. She wants nothing more than be alone with her fiancé. To have Jill next to her on the bed and press into her to make sure she’s real, but she fights the impatient urge.
Christine lets out another sigh, reading the room. “All right, I’ll go see myself out. Get some rest at least. I’d rather not be here again.” She says, pushing herself from the wall. The former UBSS agent places a hand on Jill’s shoulder and gives her a gentle squeeze before heading to the stairs. “Meds are on the counter. None of the really good ones, since I’m not allowed in the medical wings either. You’ll just have to make do.”
“Thanks Christine. I owe you big time.” Jill says, looking over to her.
“And I intend to cash that in.” Christine waves her hand dismissively, walking down the stairs. “For now just make sure she actually stays in that bed and only call me if it’s an emergency.”
“Will do!”
The door open and closes and Ada lets out a sigh of deep relief now that it was just the two of them. “Any other ex-operatives or former enemies that know this location I should be aware of?” She says, looking down at Jill.
The question makes Jill laugh. “No, just Christine.”
Ada nods. “Good. Are you going to come join me then?”
Jill smiles and moves to climb onto the other side of the bed and lies down. Ada presses into her side as Jill wraps an arm around her and lets out a very satisfied sigh.
“God this feels so much better than the couch.”
“You slept on the couch for a week?”
“Yea?” Jill says like it is the most obvious thing in the world. “You were hurt and needed the bed to rest. I didn’t want to risk anything by trying to get in and out of it.”
“Were you hurt?”
Jill shakes her head, the hand wrapped around Ada’s shoulder playing with a stray lock of hair. “No. Most everyone was dead or gone. Was able to pretend I was still under their control to get the pilot to land his helicopter and make him immediately regret that decision.” She looks down at Ada. “The couch was fine, I promise.”
Ada rolls her eyes. She swings a leg over Jill’s hips to sit on her waist, hovering over her fiancé.
Jill looks at her with surprise, hands gently grabbing Ada’s sides to steady her. “Uh…Ada, what are you doing?”
Ada gives her an admonishing look that has no real anger behind it and then laughs. “Don’t get the wrong idea, Jill.”
“Definitely no wrong ideas here with the hottest woman in the world straddling me in just a shirt.”
That makes Ada laugh harder, causing her abdomen to tense and she lets out a quiet hiss of pain. Immediately Jill is sitting up, holding Ada with an arm around her waist. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay, just hurts a lot.” Ada presses into Jill’s chest, resting her head on her shoulder. The gentle sound of her heart and the warmth from her body eases the tension from her muscles. She just enjoys the tactile feel of being able to lay against Jill after what feels like years instead of months.
Jill just traces circles on the small of Ada’s back. “It was a really nasty wound.”
“You should see the other guy.” Ada mumbles into Jill’s shirt.
A silence falls over them and Ada’s eyes close. Jill idly runs her hands up and down her back, leaning against the headboard so Ada can rest on her comfortably. The quiet lasts for a while and Ada just enjoys it. She’s had enough excitement for a long while.
“I’m sorry that you-”
“I’m going to retire-”
Jill gently grips Ada’s shoulders to bring her up so their eyes can meet. “What?”
Ada sits on the back of her legs, taking her hand. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Before… all of this.” She gestures vaguely to the medical equipment and the two of them.
Pulling her close Jill captures Ada’s lips firmly in a kiss, arms wrapped around her waist. Its warm and soft and this is what feels like home. Ada has to fight every fiber of being that just wants to melt into Jill’s embrace and after a few moments she reluctantly pulls away.
“I should talk about retirement more often if that’s the reaction.” Ada says with a smirk. The way Jill is looking up at her with such open affection, Ada has to turn to rest her head on Jill’s shoulder to avoid the uncomfortable knot twisting in her stomach. She should have done this sooner.
“You really mean it?”
“Yes. I don’t mean I’m going to stop doing things, but I’m a bit tired of mercenary work.”
Jill threads her fingers through Ada’s hair. “Could help Chris with things.”
Ada scoffs. “I’d rather not be in the same position as Yamata, if her resentment was anything to go by.”
“I’m sure you have more than enough blackmail on him.” Jill jokes with a grin. “Christine is being dramatic. She knows the closest she’ll get to doing the work she used to do is with us. The other option is the U.S. Government throwing her into a dark cell and tossing the key.”
Ada is sure she’d get tossed into that same cell too if the United States got her hands on her. Working for the client that pays the most doesn’t really make you many friends in the government.
“I’ll think about it. Cleaning house with the BSAA does seem like it could be fun. I’m not joining his ‘Wolf’ squad though.”
Jill lets out a deep laugh and Ada can feel the rumble against her chest. “I can’t imagine you listening to him anyways.”
“All right enough talk of my potential future career. I just told you I’m retiring and we’re talking about another job.” Ada says as she pushes up to look at Jill.
Jill just smiles. “Fine. Since you suddenly have so much free time we can talk about the wedding we’ve been putting off for the past however long.”
Ada rolls her eyes and drops herself back onto Jill’s shoulder. “I change my mind, I’d rather be unconscious.”
***
The light of five monitors illuminates the operations room Ada is currently in, taking in each scene playing out from the headcams of all five members of Hound Wolf squad. She’s leaning against a table opposite from where the monitors are mounted, while Christine is sat in front of her, also watching.
A year of internal house cleaning the BSAA in Europe makes the live video playing on the screens almost mundanely routine. They work through a list of known addresses and hit labs, offices, and warehouses the European branch of the BSAA are all over. They get in, grab and document evidence, and torch the whole place before more than just the security teams arrive. The same events are playing out across the operations room with different teams all across mainland Europe.
Right now, Tundra from the Wolf squad has the lead scientist of an underground bioweapons lab babbling incoherent nonsense in an attempt to save his own life, the laser from her gun dotting his chest. That’ll at least make the interrogations easy. She grabs the microphone beside her, clicking the transmit button as she pulls it up to her mouth.
“All right time to wrap up. Cuff the scientist and bring him home, I’m sure he’ll be very cooperative.”
Christine clears her throat to grab her attention and Ada looks at the monitor she’s pointing at. There’s fridge with what looks like a dozen small labeled vials in their holders. Taking her hand off the button she turns back to the virologist.
“What makes those special?”
“That’s the first time we’ve seen samples in any of the fridges. They couldn’t destroy them in time, probably. I’d like to know what they’re working on.” Christine says with keen interest. “If it’s related to the B.O.W.s they’re making then it could help us trace the source.”
“Redfield will kill you if you get anywhere close to those.” Ada warns.
Christine turns to look at her. “Guarantee you I’m the only one that can unravel whatever is in those tubes. And if you let me-”
“Are you trying to get Ada to enable your very banned research?” Jill asks as she walks up with a tray holding three cups of coffee. She places one by Christine and hands one to Ada who takes it with a smile and blows a kiss.
Ada sees Christine roll her eyes and turns back to the screen. “I’m just laying out the fact that if those samples are related to the B.O.W.s the BSAA here in Europe are utilizing, I am the most qualified one to find its origin.”
“Are you insane? Chris will kill you.” Jill pulls herself up to sit beside Ada on the table.
Christine sighs, running her finger along the edge of her cup. “I’m going to call in that favor then.”
Jill practically chokes on the sip of hot coffee she’s drinking. A hard exhale into the cup blows more hot liquid out and she has to place it on the table to clean off her shirt. “Really? For this?” Jill says between coughs. “You don’t even know if those are anything of value.”
“I’m willing to take that risk.”
A loud groan escapes Jill’s mouth and she rubs at her temples. Ada just offers her a sympathetic look and shrugs.
“Fine. I need to go make a fucking call.” Jill says, storming back out of the operations room.
Ada picks up the mic again, hovering her finger over the button. “Just so you know, Yamata. I really don’t appreciate how you keep antagonizing her.”
Christine only offers a shrug, looking at her expectantly. “Noted. Are you going to call it in now?”
Suppressing a sigh she presses the button. “Grab the samples from the fridge too. Lab wants to see if they can point us in the direction of the source of the bioweapons.”
Umber Eye’s voice crackles through the radio. “Copy all. We’ll bag ‘em.”
Ada pushes off the table and places the microphone back in its original spot in front of the monitors. “Since you’re so invested, I’ll trust you to monitor the rest until they’re back. Call me if something comes up.”
Christine nods, taking a long drink from her coffee.
Before Ada leaves, she fishes for something in her jacket. She pulls out a white envelope with gilded lettering that reads ‘Christine Yamata’ on it. Ada places it in front of the woman, making sure she sees it and watches how her brows raise.
“You’re invited to our wedding. Jill’s idea, not mine, before you get the wrong impression.”
Picking up the envelope, Christine flips it over, reading the name on the front. “Oh don’t worry I won’t.” Her lips press into a fine line as she studies it. “Is this your guys’ idea of a poor joke? Unless it’s on base I can’t even go.” She says a bitterly, tossing it onto the desk.
“We already cleared it. And I’m taking you dress shopping this weekend so you have something to wear.” Ada says as she walks to the door.
“I- What!?”
“Ta ta.” Ada flashes a smirk before slipping out.